Our Mission

At the Welcome Home Project, we know that all families need more than just a roof over their heads to turn a house into a home. We help San Francisco-based homeless families who are transitioning into permanent housing through an innovative collaboration between the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® Foundation, local non-profit organizations, government agencies, and the business community.  

Upon their move into permanent housing, transitioning families are provided our signature Welcome Home Package which includes brand-new items like cookware, dishes, eating utensils, sheets, blankets, towels, pillows, and small kitchen appliances. Each package is personalized for families and children.

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By relieving struggling families of the additional financial stress of acquiring the basic goods that many of us take for granted when settling into the safety of a new home, we further ensure that vulnerable families remain permanently housed, reducing the chances of a return to homelessness.

How It Works

• We purchase or accept donations of a range of brand-new home goods including small appliances such as toasters and microwaves, dishes, cookware, linens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, items for children including toys and school supplies, as well as essentials including first-aid and hygiene kits.

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• These items are held and organized at a centrally-located storage facility in San Francisco.

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• The Welcome Home Project maintains an easy-to-use online request portal for non-profit organizations and city agencies. We ask for details of which items the family or individual may especially need so we can customize what is provided.

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• The requesting organization is notified when the order is ready to be picked up by staff from that organization.

Each Welcome Home Package is customized for the family's needs with items including: 

Our Impact

Watch our videos to learn more:

Community Voices

Kendra and the Support Services Team at the Camelot Hotel

“Tenants and staff at the Camelot Hotel would like to express our gratitude for the Welcome Home Project! When folks first move in, they often have very few belongings. For many of them, it's been a while since they had their own private space, a door they can close, and a bed that needs sheets! The Welcome Home kit offers helpful items that we take for granted at home. Even small items such as a can opener, glasses, silverware, a drying mat and a dish towel make a big difference! When I deliver the Welcome Home kits, tenants are often so humbled, surprised, and grateful that they are moved to tears. They can't believe that the community would think of them personally with such a welcoming and thoughtful gift. THANK YOU for helping our tenants here at the Camelot Hotel feel loved, welcomed, and humanized. Thank you for helping them feel like they matter, and for giving them supportive tools to help them begin their new housing journey with dignity. We can't express our gratitude enough!” 

Charlie Berman, Case Worker, Citywide Forensic Team

“Every time I help my clients pick up goods from the Welcome Home Project to stock their new apartments, I am impressed by the quality of the goods and the cordiality of the staff. It's so heartening to see SFAR give back in this way. Many of my clients are moving into housing after years on the street, and the bundles of goods they get through the Welcome Home Project often increase the comfort and dignity they feel in their new homes. Thank you for doing this important service!”

Formerly Homeless Resident, Minna Lee Hotel

“I was really surprised when I received my gifts because I was on the street, and I had to get rid of a lot of items. So, when I came to the Minna Lee, I had nothing, and the care package from the Welcome Home Project made me feel really good. The bedding and the cleaning supplies were and are still useful. If it was not for those items, my unit would have been dirty, and it would have made me feel depressed because I could not take care of my home. Those items helped me to get acclimated in my unit. I just appreciate having to stay here at the Minna Lee because I am treated as an adult.”

Simon Warner, Case Worker, Citywide Focus

“I am a social worker that works with clients who are struggling with many different issues including living with mental health issues, HIV, substance abuse, trauma and homelessness. Each relationship and each client has a unique perspective and experience. One thing they all have in common is struggling with the stigma that is associated with these challenges in their lives. I have used Welcome Home Project twice now with two clients who have been placed in permanent housing. Having a stable home is the foundation on which building a life can commence. Welcome Home enables clients to fill their home with necessities. The items they provide are good quality and new. Watching a client open the boxes and smile with gratitude is a joy to witness. Welcome Home is one vital step in in empowering clients to have more choices and support them in fulfilling their self-identified goals. This helps build self-worth and decreases stigma. Thank you, Welcome Home Project, for your good work.”

Amelie Hansen, Counselor, Star Community Home

“These little things make a huge, huge difference. It turns the house into a home and it makes the kids smile.”

“These little things make a huge, huge difference. It turns the house into a home and it makes the kids smile.”

For Service Providers

If you are a non-profit service organization registered with the Welcome Home Project, please initiate a request on behalf of clients here:

If your non-profit service organization would like to register with the Welcome Home Project, please email foundation@sfrealtors.com for more information.

Donate

You can also make a donation to the Welcome Home Project by check. Please make your check payable to the ​"SFAR Foundation" and mail it to:

SFAR Foundation

301 Grove Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

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If you are interested in hosting a "housewares party" for the Welcome Home Project, please  email foundation@sfrealtors.com.

In-kind donors: